The DVD started off with a good intro which showed Ronnie's strongest lifts as shown in the DVD - with shrugs (200 pounds), military presses, tbar rows, deadlifts, and front squats, training hard and heavy for each of those sets. Ronnie's condition was also apparent in this sequence - weighing in at 285 pounds about 5.5 weeks out from the 2000 Mr. Olympia Contest.

For shoulders, Ronnie trains hard and heavy as always, starting off with military presses for a first set then off to side lateral raises, with Metroflex gym owner Brian Dobson around to spot him. Ronnie says that he's doing offseason training weights, but during precontest time because his strength hadn't dropped that much between the two times. He said he was up to 315 in the offseason and was currently at 285 at the time of the shoot. Keep in mind, that is 285 pounds and shredded. I actually think he could have entered the Olympia at that weight, but that might be a bit in the way of wishful thinking - in any case, he's currently competed even heavier and more shredded than he was during this DVD. Ronnie goes on to explain his routing and goes up to 70 pounds per side on the side lateral raises. Afterwards, he does front raises using the small curls bars, then the reverse pec deck for delts with 250 pounds (the full stack).

He does bent over lateral raises and explains that he normally does them with 65 pounds for 10 reps and for about three sets, then grabs the heaviest dumbbells in the gym - 200 pounds - for shrugs, for a complete set, citing that he always does as many as he can for shrugs, usually about 12-14 with that weight. Try to remember how heavy 200 pound dumbbells are and that most people would have difficulty even budging them, let alone doing a complete high rep set like Ronnie does. On top of this, the guy doesn't seem to be straining all that much in the process. Ronnie said that shrugs are about all he does for traps, but sometimes includes upright rows. Ronnie says that for upright rows, he usually does around 135 for 10-12 reps and for three sets in total.

Ronnie drives to work listening to rap music, and explains that he has worked for the Arlington police station for 12 years. He was 36 when the video was shot, so that means he had been there since age 24. After Ronnie receives his debriefing (photo above), he eats chicken and a baked potato. Then in a sequence which I thought was pretty cool, we get to see Ronnie responding to police calls. He goes home to eat another meal consisting of chicken and BBQ sauce, then responds to another call; this one being domestic assault in which a 15 year old girl assaulted her mother. Ronnie explained that if he had hit his mother he would have been dead, basically eluding to the discipline which was present in his home growing up.

While you might find it unusual that Ronnie held a full time job while becoming the Mr. Olympia champion, he said he did them both because of his love for them. He said that's the reason he did it and if he didn't like it he would quit.

After he finishes work, Ronnie went home for another hour on the treadmill.

Ronnie wakes up early the next day around 7AM and has a jumpstart meal - an extreme whey protein shake. He shows us his grits and explains that he has three cups (87 grams of carbs). Chad Nicholls was in charge of his nutrition program at the time, and Ronnie says he is on a 6/1 split with six low carb days, and one high carb day.

Next comes Ronnie's back workout. Obviously he is known for his back strength, and he starts off with deadlifts, with the following unbelievable poundages:

245 for 10 reps.

445 for 6.

645 for 5.

755 for 4.

805 for 2.

Keep in mind, 805 for two reps works out to a one rep max of over 840 pounds and this was (1) Ronnie's fifth set, and (2) 5.5 weeks before a bodybuilding contest! So of course Ronnie is lean, and in a state that many other bodybuilders find themselves to be as weak as kittens.

Of course, Ronnie isn't through yet - he goes on to do bent over barbell rows for his back with the following weights:

Warmup for 12 reps.

315 for 11.

405 for 9.

495 for 8.

Then Big Ron hits the tbar for more rows:

7 plates for 11 reps.

9 plates for 12.

12 plates for 9.

Then Ronnie goes on with his spiel "Everyone wanna be a bodybuilder, but dont nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weights."

And as you can tell from the workout above, Ronnie is all about training hard and heavy with the basics.

Ronnie next hits his biceps, with 40 pound curls for 16 reps on the preacher bench with dumbbells, followed by 50 for 12, for two additional sets.

Next Ronnie hits the cable curls for 15 reps and then off to do calves - where he bangs out reps with five plates on the seated calf machine. I don't care what anyone says about his calves - they're huge. If they do look small, it is simply in relation to his monstrous quads and for no other reason.

Then Ronnie is off to eat another meal - good ole chicken and french fries. He puts BBQ sauce on the chicken and ketchup on the fries.

Next Ronnie is off to the Southwest Natural Health Center in Arlington, Texas where Barbara Eidson (R.M.T) tells us about Ronnie's visits. Ronnie said he ruptured a disc in his back about three or four years earlier (1996 or 1997) but that he is just fine now. Thomas Eidson (R.N, DC) says that Ronnie gets adjusted once a week which is helpful for his training.

Ronnie drives to the gym in his nice red sports car. It's leg day for Ronnie where he goes hard and heavy on the basics as always (starting with front squats):

135 for 12 reps (warmup).

225 for 12.

405 for 10.

585 for 4.

495 for 10.

Next it's hack squats for Ronnie:

Five plates per side (450 total) for 11 reps.

Six plates per side (540 total) for 10.

Seven plates per side (630 total) for 9.

Eight plates per side (720 total) for 8.

Next we see Ronnie the true freak doing some more freaky training - barbell lunges around the parking lot! Talk about a unique training style, even though it's incredibly simple (hard, heavy, and basic), it's something you don't see too much in bodybuilding videos. Ronnie does 135 pounds for 20 reps, then 185 for 20 reps to finish up his quads workout for the day.

Ronnie finishes up with lying leg curls, then seated leg curls followed by some stretching and ends with some talk about his gym owner, Brian Dobson (of www.metroflexgym.com and how supportive Brian has been of him.